The Salad Conversation
by AJ6
Summary: So this story was inspired by preview pictures that were posted for episode 8x14. The pictures showed Danny and Steve at their restaurant, deep in conversation while a bowl of salad sits on the bar. So what is happening in this photo? Clearly the fans on Twitter wanted to know! LOL! Here is my take. And it has nothing to do with salad!


The Salad Conversation

 _Author's note: So this story was inspired by a preview pictures that were posted for episode 8x14. The pictures showed Danny and Steve at their restaurant, deep in conversation while a bowl of salad sits on the bar…first in front of Danny and then it winds up in front of Steve. What was funny was that this seemingly minute detail generated a bit of curious responses from viewers. What is up with salad? Are they sharing? Did Steve steal it from Danny? LOL! The things we can find to talk about on twitter. So this is my take on the "salad" discussion and it's a bit more serious than some of the aforementioned hypotheses. Hope you enjoy. Please comment and let me know what you think!_

It had been a few hours since their epic argument in front of Pua and Steve was starting to feel guilty. He had some time to cool down and realized he may have been a little hard on his partner. So Danny made a mistake and forgot to lock up. It happens. People make mistakes. He shouldn't have made such a big deal about it. So now he was heading back into the restaurant to invite Danny to lunch. His peace offering of sorts.

However when he walked into the restaurant, he found he was too late. Danny was already sitting at the bar with his lunch in front of him-a salad. Steve paused and did a double take. _Wait…a salad?_ That wasn't like Danny. While Danny was a small guy, one thing Steve had learned over the years is that it had nothing to do with his eating habits. This guy like to eat and salads weren't usually his entrée of choice.

"Hey." Steve greeted Danny and took a seat next to him at the bar.

"Hey." Danny parroted back without even looking at Steve as he poke aimlessly at the salad in front of him.

"I came back to see if you wanted to go grab some lunch, but a see you're already eating. A salad? Is Grace on your case again about eating healthy again?" Steve asked him.

"No, I just don't think my stomach will tolerate anything else at the moment." Danny replied, then dropped his fork into the bowl and shoved it across the bar to Steve. "But I'm not even really hungry. You can have it."

 _Wow!_ Steve thought to himself. _He's really taking this argument to heart._

"Listen Danno." Steve began, folding his arms on the bar and leaning toward his partner. "I'm sorry. OK? I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. And I definitely shouldn't have insulted you in front of Pua."

Danny shook his head.

"No. You were right. I left the door open. I had my mind on other things and I made a stupid mistake."

"So you made a mistake?" Steve exclaimed. "I'm sorry I made such a big deal about it."

Danny said nothing. Just continued to stare straight ahead as if deep in thought.

"But this isn't about the tools. Is it?" Steve asked him.

Danny remained silent.

"What is going on in that head of yours Danno?" Steve asked, now greatly concerned for his friend. "I know you and you never get this upset when we fight. So please, talk to me."

Danny sighed.

"He looked me right in the eyes Steve." Danny began, almost in a whisper. "He looked right at me and I could see how much he hated me."

Now Steve understood. This was about the man who shot Danny at point blank range while they were in quarantine and then took his own life before offering any explanation.

"I have laid awake almost every night, wracking my brain trying to remember this guy and…I just don't!"

He turned to face Steve. His eyes welling with unshed tears.

"How can I not remember him?"

Steve put a comforting hand on his friends shoulder.

"I have been shot before but this is different. This was so…so personal. He knew me and he hated me so much that the only thing he wanted to do before offing himself was watch me die?"

"He was clearly a sick man Danny."

"But what did I do to him!" Danny exclaimed pounding his fist on the bar in frustration. "You would think if I had done something that horrible to him…I would at least remember him."

"Danny! Your cop! You've arrested hundreds of suspects!"

"If he was someone I had arrested, why didn't we find anything on him in the files? We've checked with HPD and New Jersey PD…nothing! We don't even know his name!"

Steve didn't know what to say. Everything Danny was saying was true. And he felt horrible that he didn't realize sooner how these unanswered questions had clearly been eating away at his partner these last few weeks.

"I get it Danny. But…he's dead. It's over. You can't…."

"What if it isn't?" Danny cut him off. "We don't know who he was. We don't know why he was upset. What if he has family out there or friends that hate me just as much as he did? How do we know this is over?"

Once again, Steve didn't know what say. The truth was that Danny was right. They didn't know.

"What if someone comes after my kids next?"

"That is not going to happen." Steve insisted. "OK? We are not going to let anything happen to them? We are going to figure this out! I promise you. "

Steve stood up and put his arm around Danny.

"You and the kids…you're my family. OK? I'm not going to let anything happen to them or you. Do you understand?"

Danny nodded.

"And I'm sorry Danno. I should have realized how stressful this was for you."

"It's fine." Danny replied.

"No." Steve insisted. "It's not. I guess I was so focused on your recovery I just thought it was best if we just put the whole thing behind us. But you're right. We need to figure this out. And we will.

He gave his partner a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of his head.

"I love you buddy."

"I love you too."

THE END


End file.
